American researchers found burgers, chips and sausages programmed a human brain into craving even more sugar, salt and fat laden food. Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida found laboratory rats became addicted to a bad diet.
They tested rats and the rats which ate as much junk food as they wanted became very fat and started bingeing. When researchers electronically stimulated the part of the brain that feels pleasure, they found the rats on unlimited junk food needed even more stimulation to register the same level of pleasure as the animals on healthier diets.
"They always went for the worst types of food and as a result, they took in twice the calories as the control rats,” said Dr Kenny. "The change in their diet preference was so great that they basically starved themselves for two weeks after they were cut off from junk food." Read more here.
This is what Dr David Kessler identified. He was a commissioner with the US Food and Drugs Administration. He claims that manufacturers have created combinations of fat, sugar and salt that are so tasty and trigger addictive neural pathways in the brain that many people really cannot stop eating these foods even when they have just eaten a full meal. He argues that manufacturers are seeking to trigger a "bliss point" when people eat certain products, leaving them hungry for more, so that they gain weight.
To help you overcome these addictions, try hypnosis.
We can all find a little space for something particularly delicious and tempting. Our stomachs (normally the size of our fist) are very stretchy.
But what is making us eat when we are not hungry. Well, there are a number of reasons. If any seem to apply to you, think about how you can avoid them.
Some of us eat to calm or comfort ourselves. We feel bad about ourselves and food helps us feel relaxed. But then after that, we feel guilty, dissappointed and angry, so the comfort just doesn't last long enough. Learning to feel good about yourself, to overcome anxiety, is the first place to start. And hypnosis is a good place to start.
And then there is habit. Like putting two slices of toast in the toaster (because there are two slots) and eating both when one would do. Or cake with coffee. Or crisps with wine or beer. If we regularly eat a little snack at 3.00pm, then our bodies get used to it. Even if we have had plenty to eat, our bodies cry out for the 3.00pm intake. After a couple of days however, these cravings go. When are you snacking? Habits are learned and so can be unlearned.
Refined carbohydrates make your blood sugar peak and trough dramatically so you feel hungry soon after. This includes sugary foods, white flour, sweets, cakes and biscuits. If you don't buy them, you won't eat them. Remember, in the hand is in the mouth.
Of course, if something looks and smells delicious, our body responds positively, with lots of encouraging saliva flow, which itself makes you hungry. As for me, I don't want to resist a mango, but I trained myself to resist chocolate, and now it doesn't interest me. (I continue to be amazed.)
Alchohol lowers your general ability to resist. If you eat before you go out drinking, you will be less likely to succumb to a calorie-packed takeaway on the way home.
We can all find a little space for something particularly delicious and tempting. Our stomachs (normally the size of our fist) are very stretchy. But what is making us eat when we are not hungry? Well, there are a number of reasons. If any seem to apply to you, think about how you can avoid them.
For many of us, it is boredom. We are wanting something to do with our hands. This is often the case when watching telly. Snacking in front of the telly is a risk factor for obesity. But what was that? Bored while watching telly? Maybe it is time to do something more rewarding like martial arts, or yoga, or going to the cinema, or phoning someone. Or taking up knitting or pottery. Many of us have got out of the way of hobbies. Our lives are complicated and it seems just too much extra hassle to get involved. But it is one of the best ways of controlling our weight.
For others of us, it is habit. If we regularly eat a little snack at 3.00pm, then our bodies get used to it. Even if we have had plenty to eat, our bodies cry out for the 3.00pm intake. After a couple of days without the 3pm snack, these cravings go. Refined carbohydrates make your blood sugar peak and trough dramatically so you feel hungry soon after. This includes sugary foods, white flour, sweets, cakes and biscuits. If you don't buy them, you won't eat them. Remember, in the hand is in the mouth.
Of course, if something looks and smells delicious, our body responds positively, with lots of encouraging saliva flow, which itself makes you hungry. Alcohol lowers your general ability to resist. If you eat before you go out drinking, you will be less likely to succumb to a takeaway on the way home.
Speed of eating turns out to be one of the earliest predictors of obesity. And obesity is a risk factor for diabetes.
In a study by Robert Berkowitz and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania, rapid eating (higher number of mouthfuls per minute) of a single laboratory testmeal was a remarkably strong predictor of subsequent weight gain in kids.
At 4 years of age, 32 children of overweight mothers and 29 children of normal weight mothers were given a test meal in a controlled laboratory setting. Mouthfuls of food per minute at this single meal not only predicted changes in BMI from 4 to 6 years but also changes in skinfolds and total body fat.
But what about you? People who eat rapidly are at risk of being overweight. Research has shown that obese people eat fast and maintain the same rate of eating throughout a meal, whereas normal weight people slow down their rate of eating towards the end. Slowing down allows the stretch receptors to signal to your brain that your stomach is full. Eating quickly means you pass the Full point and reach Stuffed before your brain is ready to receive the information.
Another interesting piece of research by Yvonne Linne at Huddinge University Hospital in Sweden, hows that eating with a blindfold decreased the intake of food, without making people feel less full. The researchers gave their subjects meals of varying sizes. No matter the amount on the plate, the subjects felt satisfied after eating. What does this mean then? Eating blindfolded may force us to rely on internal signals to tell us when we have had enough to eat. And it means if you use a smaller plate, you will feel just as satisfied.
Most of us have stopped using internal signals to guide our eating, and we are getting overweight as a result. With practice, we can start to identify when we are hungry (most of us never feel hunger) and when we are full. Hypnotherapy can help you to get to know your internal
So, focusing on your internal cues helps you reduce weight. To help you achieve this:
eat slowly (putting your hands in your lap between mouthfuls really slows you down)
do nothing else whilst eating (no telly, no radio, no reading)
We can all find a little space for something particularly delicious and tempting. Our stomachs (normally the size of our fist) are very stretchy.
Maybe you remember Mr Creosote from the Monty Python sketch? He tried to squeeze in one last mint wafer before he burst.
But what is it that is making us eat when we are not hungry? Well, there are a number of reasons. If any seem to apply to you, think about how you can avoid them.
If we regularly eat a little snack at 3.00pm, then our bodies get used to it. Even if we have had plenty to eat, our bodies cry out for the 3.00pm intake. After a couple of days without the snack, these cravings go completely. When are you snacking?
Refined carbohydrates make your blood sugar peak and trough dramatically so you feel hungry soon after. This includes sugary foods, white flour, sweets, cakes and biscuits. If you don't buy them, you won't eat them. Remember, in the hand is in the mouth. Then you gain weight.
Of course, if something looks and smells delicious, our body responds positively, with lots of encouraging saliva flow, which itself makes you hungry. As for me, I can never resist a mango, but I have trained myself (with some effort, but successfully) to resist chocolate, and now it doesn't interest me at all.
And sometimes we eat for something to do, and sometimes because we need comfort. A better long-term solution is to identify solutions to these issues.
Alcohol lowers your general ability to resist. If you eat before you go out drinking, you will be less likely to succumb to a takeaway on the way home.
In these days of relative plenty, hunger is not the main trigger to eat. Most of us don't really know what hunger feels like anymore.
Vision - what we see - is one part of the complex pattern of factors influencing the amount of food we eat. So if we are looking through the kitchen cupboards and spot a bag of crisps, we are likely to eat them, even if we have just eaten a full meal. If there are no crisps to be seen, we manage to do without.
Many of us eat because we see something nice. We get hungry watching the food programmes on the telly, or reading a magazine, or wandering through the aisles in the supermarket. All these things make us think about food and eating. So our eyes are more likely to tempt us to eat than the signals coming from our body.
Yvonne Linné, Britta Barkeling, Stephan Rössner and Pål Rooth of Huddinge University Hospital in Stockholm show that eating with a blindfold decreased the intake of food, without making people feel less full. Eating blindfolded, therefore, may force us to rely more on internal signals.
Learning to recognise these internal, physiological cues of hunger and satisfaction will go a long way to controlling the amount that we eat. Just knowing that cravings and desires to eat come from external cues is really helpful. If you don't want to be always snacking, then don't have the snacks in the house. In the house is in the hand, in the hand is in the mouth.
Many people use food for comfort and to help combat stress. In particular, snack foods are used in this way. Learning to manage your stress will help you stop comfort eating. Hypnotherapy is one of the best ways to control stress.
Dr Daryl O'Connor and pals from University of Leeds, found that ego-threatening, interpersonal and work-related hassles lead people to snack more. In contrast, physical stressors lead people to snack less. The people most at risk of snacking as a result of the hurly burly of life were found to be:
dieters
people who tend to eat in response to their mood and feelings rather than in response to physical hunger signals
people who can't resist food if they see it. Just the sight of it makes them feel hungry so they eat it
people who can't control their impulses, don't get feelings of shame or embarrassment, or are drunk
the obese and women
In other words, people with higher levels of vulnerability are significantly more likely to consume increased snacks in response to life's daily stresses. In particular, people who eat in response to their mood are prone to the effects of stress on eating.
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